WINTER DIET

I’ve received a lot of inquiries about what I eat in a day, and while I plan to do a vlog on this one day, I’m having a hard time remembering to film since I eat every 5 minutes. Just kidding. But lately my snacking has been a bit excessive to be honest. This typically happens around the holidays / winter since being cozied up at home tends to mean lots of junk food and fattening beverages.

This isn’t ideal since I will be living in a bikini for a week in a few days, so I wanted to share small tips that help kick my butt into shape during the most delicious time of the year. Can we quickly discuss how I’m still full from Thanksgiving?! That meal takes a serious toll on my body. I get super bloated, constipated (TMI, sorry), and I’m pretty sure the creamed corn is still floating around my middle section. Insert: cringing emoji face.

I can definitely see a difference in my winter body versus my summer body, which tells me there is a combination of factors, whether included, that affect how I look. Trying to pinpoint exact ingredients and habits is actually quiet hard so I’ve been documenting reactions to certain foods and seeing if I can narrow it down.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

WINTER DIET + EXERCISE OBSERVATIONS:

–Cold freezes fat. Ok, that might not be entirely true when it comes to the body (or maybe it is?), but honestly I started thinking about it and I can’t see why it’s any different than food? I mean, when I work out during the summer heat it accelerates the fat burning (think: heat melts the fat). So in the colder, winter months I have to work extra hard to burn fat, otherwise it will live happily on my sides.

–Hot drinks do nothing but make me bloated. It’s so depressing. I love my Naughty Hot Chocolate but it makes me so uncomfortable for almost 24 hours after. Sadly, my body has a pretty bad reaction to dairy in general. Depending on the food / drink I may just chose to suffer the stomach ache because it’s that good.

–I am always hungry. Not sure what it is about the cold weather but I find myself snacking pretty much all day. A granola bar, trail mix, fruit, cheese, just random things. I typically have a full breakfast, a light lunch (usually salad), and a full dinner, but the snacking has gotten a bit much. Limiting what’s in the house helps though.

-Buying healthy. Since I do snack a lot in the winter, I’m trying to only buy healthier options so I have no choice but to eat something nutritious. I’m all about the trail mix and fruit but those are loaded with sugar. A lot of times I will make myself a collagen protein shake mid-day to hold me over until dinner.

-Drink lots of water. I buy those huge 1.5L bottles of electrolyte water and line 5 up on the counter. If I don’t finish all 5 bottles by Friday I know my water consumption that week was terrible. Staying hydrated is so crucial to your health and complexion, and I find that when I’m drinking a lot of water my bathroom schedule is more regular, which helps with keeping the tummy flat.

-No hibernating. I find that during winter I excuse myself from working out a lot more often than summer. Maybe it’s because I can bundle up beneath layers of chunky sweaters (rather than baring my body in a bikini), but that obviously doesn’t help the situation. In order to keep some structure to my week, I make a solid effort to box 3 times per week. It’s not ideal but it helps balance out the food and drinks at least.

-Everything in moderation. Let’s face it, no one can really say NO to all the yummy-ness of the holidays. It wouldn’t be the holidays without all the peppermint bark, hot toddys, pies, heavy dinners, or excessive amounts of wine, so just keep it all to a minimum. Allow yourself to enjoy but do it in moderation. Choose 1 guilty pleasure each night–is it going to be a glass of wine? A scoop of ice cream? Some chocolate? Whatever it is, don’t over-indulge and you should be just fine.